I got one of these a couple summers ago from Lowe's, which turned out to have mealybugs, so it didn't last long here. Didn't expect to see another specimen this soon -- it's possible that I've only seen this species for sale twice in my life -- but since I have, we're going to try it a second time. This photo doesn't show the coolness of the leaf pattern very well, alas, but you can kind of see it if you open the photo up full-size.

Hemigraphis exotica. Earl May, Iowa City, $3.

I'm not especially a fan of this plant, but it was cheap, and I felt like I sort of owed Hemigraphis another shot; like with the Haworthia, the first attempt ended quickly. In that case, the problem wasn't bugs: I didn't have a bright enough spot, so it lost color but limped along anyway, then one week I forgot to water it in a timely fashion and whoops! it's dead. So it gets one more chance to impress me. But only one.

Kalanchoe marmorata. Ace Hardware, Iowa City, $7?

I thought this was another retry -- I had an offset of K. gastonis-bonnieri a while ago that never managed to take, and I thought that's what I was getting here, but I think what I actually got was K. marmorata.

I'm not thrilled about this, and I'm especially not thrilled that I didn't figure out which Kalanchoe it was until I'd already uploaded the photo, 'cause now the file name is wrong, but oh well. Too late now.

Kalanchoes and I have a mixed history, tending towards bad: I have a hard time getting them enough light (tomentosa, bracteata), and the ones I can get enough light on, I tend to overwater (luciae, orgyalis). More recent attempts (millotii, prolifera) have been better, though.

Sometimes, in the excitement of buying plants, I pick up something I don't need or want, just because it happens to catch my eye at the right moment. This may be one of those plants, but that's okay: at least it's something I like. And I could use it to propagate from, if nothing else.

Did you know that the Quad Cities has a Botanical Center? I didn't. We visited last Friday, and I took a million photos, which will take some time to get sorted out, but there will probably be a post sooner or later about this.

They also sell a few plants, which is where I saw this. I'm a little unsure about the ID: the tag said Pilea peperomioides, but someone had written "Pepperomia" [sic] on the pot in black Sharpie, and Peperomia 'Jayde' is awfully similar-looking. I'm fairly confident that this is the Pilea, though: Peperomia 'Jayde's leaves come to a point at the tip, and are concave at the petiole, neither of which apply to this plant.

I was excited to see it; ever since Ivynettle mentioned it in the comments for this post last August, I'd been trying to keep an eye out, but I wasn't expecting to find one.

Both of the Syngoniums were varieties I'd seen and wanted before, but I've only been able to find them in four-inch (10 cm) pots for $8. Even for a pretty Syngonium, that's too much.

I don't know the name of either variety; they weren't tagged. The first one I've seen before, called 'Gold'-something, but I no longer remember. The second one might be 'Confetti,' though I think I've seen multiple cultivars with pink spots like that.

Tradescantia (?) NOID. Reha's Greenhouses, Wellman, $5.

Last, a NOID. I suspect it's a Tradescantia, but Callisia or Cyanotis hasn't been ruled out. It strongly resembles Tradescantia pallida, but it has elements of several things: the leaf shape and fuzziness is like Tradescantia sillamontana, the undersides of the leaves are purple even in lower light like T. spathacea, and when it's gotten enough light to be properly colored-up, it resembles a short, stubby T. pallida, though the color isn't quite as deep.

Reha's was unable to tell me anything more than, they don't believe it's the same species as T. pallida, and it needs very bright light in order to color up properly.

8 comments:

Wow, that's the first time I've heard of Pilea peperomioides being sold anywhere, except at my ex-job (usually it's a passalong plant). I don't even know if mine is still alive. Might have to get myself a new one from my gran.

That Pilea is very cool, and I wish I had better luck with Synogoniums, I like the pink-spotted whatever one, it reminds me of a caladium. That Tradescantia NOID looks like the one I have - found a piece of stem on the sidewalk in my neighborhood during 'moving-weekend'. The one time it bloomed the flower was pink; I've settled on an ID of T. cerinthoides until I get a better suggestion.

Since you've brought up Kalanchoes twice in one week, I have a question for you. There are a lot of people in nurseries and plant businesses around Albuquerque who consistently pronounce it (I'll do the best I can here) ka-laun-chose. Where is, I (and everyone I know in other parts of the country) pronounce it kal-an-co-ee. Do you think this is just a weird Abq thing? I don't get it.

I had problems with pests on my H tesselata, too. Like you, I'm fond of the... well... tesselated pattern of the leaves (crisscross pattern like tiny tiles). I treated the pests and decided to keep mine. It's growing and multiplying, though I'm still not convinced it's pest-free.

Kalanchoe marmorata is charming for its ease of stem propagation (like so many succulents in Crassulaceae) and for the purple spots on the leaves (enhanced by bright light). But what stands out for me is the form of the white flowers. They are quite unlike the rather plain-jane flowers of K millotii...

Well, it was probably still kind of a passalong: most of the plants they had for sale looked like they were either rooted pieces of the plants in the botanical center or plants that had been donated for sale to help the botanical center.

Thomas:

Syngoniums and I didn't get along until fairly recently, and I'm not sure what changed. I'm hoping, obviously, that the trend continues.

Tradescantia cerinthoides looks plausible, but I was only able to find one decent picture of it on-line, so I'm a little hesitant to make that official. Like you said, though, until I get a better suggestion, I suppose I can go with that.

Liza:

Everybody I worked with at the garden center said kuh-LAN-cho. The other pronunciation is more "correct," in that it's more in line with the Greek (?) roots of the word, but I went with what everybody else said just to get along, so now that's how I think the pronunciation in my head, too.

Lily:

Glad to be of assistance.

Sentient Meat:

Well, I hope my K. marmorata doesn't flower too soon -- they only flower once, right? -- but I feel better about not getting the plant I thought I was getting now.

Tip jar:

Just so you know:

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